Grand Cherokee's high demand pushes Maserati production from Detroit to Italy

12:47 PM, February 19, 2013

Detroit Free Press Business Writer

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Chrysler no longer plans to build a Maserati SUV called the Levante at its plant in Detroit as demand for the Jeep Grand Cherokee soars.

“Due to the high demand for the Grand Cherokee we reallocated the product to Italy,” Maserati CEO Harald Wester said in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The Levante is one of three models that Maserati is counting on as it aims to grow global sales from 6,300 in 2012 to 50,000 by 2015.

The SUV will be built from the same architecture as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

In 2012, when Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne unveiled a concept version of a Maserati SUV at the Detroit auto show he said the vehicle would be built at the company’s plant in Detroit and applauded the workforce there for being capable of building a luxury SUV.

But as demand has increased globally for the Grand Cherokee and as Fiat has confronted a recession in Europe, Marchionne decided to produce the vehicle in Europe so the company would not need to close its factory in Mirafiori.